Cynthia Walsh said she had a heart attack in April and is worried about what will happen when New England Sinai Hospital closes its doors in April.
“You have to go to where you can get the care. A ‘MinuteClinic’ isn’t going to handle a heart attack,” Walsh said.
According to NESH’s owner, Steward Health Care, the Stoughton hospital’s financial performance decreased by 1,600 percent over the last five years. The healthcare company blamed “skyrocketing expenses” related to labor, material costs due to inflation, and lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on its decision to close the hospital.
NESH’s last day of operation is April 2, Steward said.
“This was a very difficult decision, but numerous factors have made it impossible to continue operations,” a Steward attorney told the Dept. of Public Health in December. “Chronic under-reimbursement rates through public programs like Medicaid have put an unstainable strain on resources at NESH.”
During a public hearing with the Mass. Dept. of Public Health Wednesday, NESH’s President Justine DeFronzo said several factors “decimated” NESH’s financial performance.